Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus review: Black & white

Introduction

It's no secret the Xiaomi Mi 5s didn't turn out the Mi 5 update we've been hoping for, even though it did improve on a number of points such as build and camera quality. On the other hand, its bigger sibling, the Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus, is looking way more promising and ticks all the necessary boxes required to helm the company's flagship title (assuming the Mi Mix is a one-off experiment).

Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus is a big upgrade over the Mi 5 and even the Mi 5s, and if it wasn't for the actual Mi Note 2 to go official, Xiaomi could have sold the Mi 5s Plus under the Mi Note 2 name instead and nobody would have anything against that.

The Mi 5s Plus is a 5.7" big metal-clad beauty, powered by the fastest Snapdragon 821 chip with a beefy battery, and a promising dual-camera setup with a monochrome and color 13MP sensors. The front UltraPixel camera is perfect for selfies and we are happy Xiaomi is sticking with it - we are always glad to have it for such occasions.

So, the screen got bigger, the body got sturdier, but the Mi 5s Plus is also faster, with more storage, and promising camera skills. The phone seems a serious improvement over the Mi 5, so what's not to love about it? Let's dig into its specs and find out.

Key features

• 5.7" IPS LCD display of 1080p resolution; 386ppi;
• Snapdragon 821 chipset (2x 2.35 GHz and 2x 2.2 GHz cores), Adreno 530 GPU; 4/6GB RAM
• 64GB/128GB storage
• Dual 13MP camera with hybrid AF, color and monochrome sensors, f/2.0 aperture; dual-tone flash; 2160p video at 30fps; 1080p@30fps
• 4MP f/2.0 front-facing camera, 1080p video recording at 30fps
• Cat.12 4G LTE (600Mbps); Dual-SIM; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.2; NFC; GPS, GLONASS and Beidou; IR blaster
• Android 6.0 Marshmallow with MIUI 8
• Fingerprint scanner
• 3,800 mAh non-removable battery, fast charging

Main shortcomings

• No microSD expansion
• No adequate screen protection
• Sealed battery
• No optical image stabilization, no faux bokeh effect
• No FM radio, no stereo speakers

The Mi flagship breed has been known for a few omissions and they are hardly a surprise here. The Mi 5s Plus, as expected, lacks memory expansion or a removable battery. It may up the number of camera sensors on its back, but drops the optical stabilization just like the Mi 5s. And, last, but not least, the Gorilla Glass shield over the screen we saw on the Mi 5 is gone.

The Mi 5s Plus, unlike the Mi 5s, keeps the IR blaster and offers a speedier processor and much bigger battery. And it pretty much improves on everything else the Mi 5 has to shine with back in April.

The 64GB model of the Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus is ready to pop out of the box. Join us right after the break.

Special thanks to HonorBuy for providing the review unit.